Clean Run - April 2014 - 44

As agility courses become more technical and dogs' yards per second increase, specific skills
are becoming increasingly necessary to successfully communicate course direction to our dogs.
Possibly the most important of those skills is "come to heel." In this case, heel is defined as the
dog positioned alongside his handler so both dog and human are facing the same direction
and the dog's topline is parallel to his handler's line of motion.

Procedure: Set up the perch. Ask
your dog to step on the perch with
his two front feet. When he steps on
the perch, offer him a food reward.
Make sure his front feet remain in
contact with the perch while he eats
his reinforcement. Next, move the
right side of your body toward the
left side of your dog while keeping
your toes touching the perch. As
your dog begins to feel the pressure
of your body, he will likely pivot and
move his rear feet away from you.
See Figure 2. As soon as you see
your dog shift his weight in preparation for movement, click and reward
the motion.
I frequently see striking breed differences with this exercise. For instance, Labs often do not move away
from pressure until their handlers are
almost on top of them, whereas Border Collies tend to move away on
their handlers' first or second step.
Gradually shape your dog to move
his hind feet away from your pressure. Initially reward minute movements and progress to rewarding bigger movements, like two or
three steps. Remember, your dog
must always keep his front feet on
the perch. If he moves his front feet
off, stop and ask him to get back
into position.
Move back and forth around the
perch, in both directions, continuing to reward your dog's motion
away from your body. Make sure
your body remains in close contact
with the perch. Try to keep your toes
touching the perch; this forces you to
remain connected to the equipment
and keeps your body from getting
out of position.
44

ExErcisE 3: PErch
Work TakE 2
Procedure: Set up the perch. At this
stage in training your dog should
be eager to get his front feet on
the bowl; if he is being a nuisance
and getting in your way as you
get the equipment out, you are
on the right track! See Figure 3.
Ask your dog to step on the perch
with his two front feet. Move back
and forth, circling the bowl, and rewarding your dog's motion away
from your body. Each time you reward, position the food on the outside of the dog's face so that as he
eats the food you can encourage him
to continue moving into a loose heel
position. See Figure 4.

Move the left side of your body toward
the right side of the dog until he moves
his hind legs away from your pressure.

Continue training the perch until your
dog will respond to your body pressure by nestling himself into a loose
heel position on the other side of you.

ExErcisE 4: PErch
Work TransiTions
Purpose: This exercise teaches your
dog that the behaviors he learned on
the perch apply when he is on the flat.
Procedure: Pick one or two transition objects your dog can use as a
perch. I use flat rocks in my yard and
clipboards because both tend to be
handy. Regardless of what you use,
the transitional perch should be less
obvious to the dog than the original
perch. Lure your dog to place his
front feet on the transitional perch,
then reward him a few times in position. After he has been rewarded
several times in position, click and
throw the treat so he has to leave
the transitional perch to get it. After
your dog eats his reward, ask him to

All the dogs trying to get on the perch.

Feed the dog on the outside of his
face to encourage him to move
into heel position.
Clean Run | April 14

Clean Run - April 2014

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